Imperial Magical Council Judgment Decree No. 1017:
Shane Leynas, convicted of stealing seven corpses and conducting illegal necromantic experiments, is hereby sentenced to one hundred and fifty years of exile.
Place of Exile: The Golden Sea Desert, Northwestern Territory of the Empire.
During the period of exile, the convict must not leave the designated area.
This judgment takes effect immediately.
Imperial Calendar Year 618.
...
The wind swept over the sand dunes, kicking up fine grains of sand that stung Shane's face beneath his long-sleeved cloak.
He stood in the center of the teleportation array, a heavy metal ring clasped around his wrist.
This was the Ring of the Exiled. It was said to not only suppress his power but also ensure that he could never leave this desert known as the "Golden Sea" during his sentence.
The words of the executing knight still echoed in his ears:
“This is for your own good, and for the good of everyone else. There are no ordinary creatures in the Golden Sea, and the magic elements here are extremely chaotic. This will prevent you from turning into a lich.”
“Heh... haha.”
Chuckling softly, Shane couldn't help but shake his head. For his own good?
He should first figure out how to avoid turning into a mummified corpse.
Looking up at the blazing sun overhead, feeling the scorching yellow sand beneath his feet, and breathing in the dry, hot air, Shane did not actually feel too much despair.
Instead, he felt a strange sense of homecoming.
Three days ago, he was just an ordinary desert reclamation engineer. His family had been reclaiming deserts for three generations, and on that day, he had been discussing sand-fixation grid layouts with his colleagues at the edge of a desert.
Then, a sudden sandstorm turned his world upside down. When he woke up, he found himself standing in a courtroom.
He had become Shane Leynas.
Before he could even understand what was happening, he was teleported into this desert.
He had a slender build, black hair, and dark brown eyes. His skin was slightly pale from a long-term lack of sunlight—anyone who saw him would say he was prime material for studying necromancy.
However, his years of planting trees in the desert kept him from panicking. Instead, the sheer absurdity of the situation made him smile.
But then, Shane's brow furrowed. Having stood there for only a moment, fine beads of sweat were already breaking out on his forehead.
Although necromancers enjoyed long lifespans, their resistance to sunlight was notoriously low. If he couldn't find a way to survive, the Golden Sea would likely claim another mummified corpse in a week's time.
He looked around. Yellow sand filled his vision, with dunes rolling endlessly like golden waves.
Yet upon closer inspection, it was not entirely devoid of life.
A few clumps of low, grey-green plants clung stubbornly to the ground, their thick leaves curled at the edges.
So Shane walked over to one of the clumps, knelt down, and tentatively reached out his hand.
But just as his fingertips were about to touch the plant, he suddenly froze.
He felt that the magic elements in the air, which had been incredibly chaotic, actually seemed a bit more stable around this plant.
This discovery made Shane freeze, and then his eyes lit up.
He immediately held his breath and closed his eyes to feel it carefully.
Yes, it seemed that within a radius of about half a meter around this plant, the violent collisions of the various elements had eased significantly.
He opened his eyes at once, looking at the unknown plant before him with delight.
Could plants actually stabilize magic elements in the desert?
If this was true, he might have just found a way out.
The corners of Shane's mouth curved upward. If the magic elements stabilized, the backlash and interference he suffered when casting necromancy would be greatly reduced.
Furthermore, the more greenery there was, the larger his safe zone would become, and the more power he would be able to wield.
For someone who had spent his entire life planting trees, how was this a punishment? It was practically an experimental field tailored specifically for him!
Having figured this out, Shane stood up with a confident smile. Re-evaluating the desert, he muttered to himself, “As expected, I need to find a water source first.”
He raised his right hand, brought it close to the plant, and closed his eyes to recall the original host's magical knowledge. Taking a deep breath, he extended his index finger as the power of death gathered at his fingertip:
“Skeletal Summoning.”
Whether it was a stroke of luck or not, a fair amount of past life seemed to be buried beneath this desert.
Without wasting much mana, two spots in the sand not far from him began to swell one after another, revealing the ash-white bones beneath.
One of them looked like some kind of canine, while the other was clearly a human skeleton.
The two skeletons wobbled as they stood up from the sand, their hollow eye sockets turning toward Shane as they awaited his orders.
“Find water.”
Without hesitation, Shane gave the order, while attaching a thread of mental connection to both skeletons. “Or any place where liquid pools or plants grow densely.”
Shane remained where he was, sharing the skeletons' vision through the mental connection to conserve unnecessary physical energy.
As time ticked by, Shane's lips began to dry out, and his throat felt as if it were on fire.
Right then, a strong sensation of "moisture" came from the canine skeleton's side.
Shane's spirits lifted, and he focused his consciousness.
Through the shared perception, he saw that behind a sand dune, in a low-lying area, dozens of dense, seabuckthorn-like plants were clustered. In the center, there was a bright reflection.
It was clearly the reflection of water!
And it wasn't too far away—only about a one- or two-hour walk from his current position.
Shane immediately recalled the other skeleton while ordering the canine skeleton that had found the oasis to wait in place.
About an hour later, as he crested the final sand dune, the sight before him made him stop in his tracks.
He saw a small pool of water, roughly the size of a basketball court. The water was crystal clear, shimmering enticingly under the scorching sun.
Around the pool grew dozens of low, lush plants. Some of them looked a bit like seabuckthorn, while the rest were thick-leaved shrubs he didn't recognize.
What delighted Shane the most was that there were actually two crooked trees here. Although their leaves were sparse and they looked half-dead, they were indeed trees.
“This is the place.”
With excitement in his heart, Shane walked over to the edge of the pool, knelt down, scooped up some water with both hands, and took a cautious sip.
It was cool, with a slight taste of soil, but perfectly drinkable.
No longer hesitating, he greedily took several gulps, then plunged his head into the water, letting the cool sensation wash away the grogginess caused by the heat.
He had finally come back to life.
After resting for a moment, Shane began to carefully inspect the oasis.
The pool was likely a point where groundwater seeped out. The volume wasn't large, but it flowed continuously.
Nourished by the water, the surrounding plants were noticeably healthier than those elsewhere in the desert, their leaves appearing much plumper.
Take the seabuckthorn-like plant here, for example. Its root system was exceptionally developed, digging deep into the sand to firmly grasp the underground moisture.
Its branches were also lush, drooping to touch the ground, and the parts in contact with the sand had even grown tiny adventitious roots.
Clearly, they were expanding their territory on their own.
“Looking at it this way, perhaps using it as a pioneer species would be a good idea...”
Recalling his experience with desert reclamation in his past life, the first plants to be introduced were often these highly resilient species that reproduced quickly and could improve the local environment.
Their presence laid the foundation for the introduction of subsequent species, and the seabuckthorn-like plant before him could clearly serve as the "pioneer" of the Golden Sea.
Having formed a plan, Shane immediately set to work. First, he ordered the two skeletons to dig several shallow trenches downwind of the pool.
He didn't need a complex irrigation system; he only needed the water to slowly seep into further areas.
Next, he selected a few of the healthiest seabuckthorn plants and carefully cut sections of branches that had adventitious roots.
This was the simplest method of propagation by cutting.
In his past life, they had used this method to rapidly expand the coverage of seabuckthorn in the Mu Us Desert with remarkable results.
Once the cuttings were ready, Shane mapped out his first planting zone on the sandy ground about ten meters away from the pool.
“Now comes the most critical part...”
Shane picked up a seabuckthorn cutting, inserted it into a hole, and covered it with sand.
Then, he extended his right hand, placing it on the sand near the base, and began attempting to channel the death magic within his body.
The entire process was like the "catfish effect," using death magic to stimulate the plant's roots and force rapid growth.
It was a crazy idea.
Because life and death were incompatible—this was common knowledge in this world.
But in Shane's past life, there was a saying in his country:
Life and death are an endless cycle.
Fallen blossoms are not heartless things; they turn into spring soil to nurture more flowers.
Just as humus nourishes new life, death also paves the way for rebirth.
He carefully guided a wisp of cold magic, letting it seep into the sand to touch the bottom of the cutting.
At first, the cutting did not react at all.
Shane did not fret. His career in desert reclamation had cultivated a strong sense of resilience, and his instincts as a necromancer kept his mind as calm as still water.
He patiently maintained his output, observing closely and adjusting the frequency and intensity of his magic at any moment.
Soon, he felt it—the faint life force inside the cutting was resisting.
Gradually, a change occurred within that resistance.
In the process of fighting against the stimulation, the life force actually began to accelerate.
Immediately after, Shane witnessed an unbelievable sight.
The newly inserted seabuckthorn cutting actually sprouted tiny white root tips from its cut end at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Although the growth stopped after just a few breaths, it was more than enough to prove he was right!
Under specific conditions, death magic could indeed stimulate plant growth!
“Hahaha...”
Shane couldn't help but laugh out loud, his voice sounding somewhat eerie in the silent oasis.
The two skeletons turned their heads toward him blankly, their bones rattling slightly.
A hundred and fifty years of exile?
Fine.
He would use this time to turn this "land of death" known as the Golden Sea into a paradise!
And at this very moment, on a distant border where the scorching winds of the Golden Sea had yet to blow, a peculiar group was folding up their map, casting their eyes toward this vast sea of sand labeled as a "land of death and exile."
Rate on N.U.
